March 16, 2015, 10:04 / Business

Operators ask Dvorkovich to prevent deregulation of the carriage part of the Russian Railways tariff

The Council of Railway Operators (SOZHT, unites the largest owners of freight cars) asks Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich to prevent deregulation of the carriage component of the Russian Railways tariff , allowing the monopoly to set fees for the provision of cars for the transportation of goods.

“The partnership does not support the deregulation of the carriage component or the introduction of a “tariff corridor”: such measures will inevitably entail a reduction (of this part of the tariff), which will exclude the possibility of acquiring or modernizing rolling stock. In addition, this neutralizes the very principle of state regulation of the activities of Russian Railways as a monopoly.” , - says the SOZHT report, as cited by Interfax .

In general, the council believes that the lease of rolling stock to Russian Railways without “detailed modeling of possible negative consequences” may increase the imbalance in the monopoly and market segments of railway transport. “The legislation provides for the possibility of attracting (third-party) freight cars for lease on a contractual basis, and additional regulatory legal regulation for the lease of gondola cars to the carrier is not required. The cars transferred to Russian Railways acquire the status of an “inventory fleet”, and tariff regulation of cargo transportation (in it ) is carried out according to the price list “10-01,” SOZHT also notes.

In addition, the partnership indicates that in 2011, the procedure for calculating tariffs for the transportation of goods in outsourced gondola cars belonging to the subsidiary of Russian Railways, Federal Freight Company JSC, was approved. “In accordance with the goals and objectives of the reform in railway transport, the size of the car component established in the price list “10-01” takes into account the need to renovate the car fleet,” the council also writes.

The issue of transferring private gondola cars to the management of Russian Railways was discussed on March 11 at a meeting of the Presidium of SOZhT. Following the meeting, the operators’ position was sent to the Ministry of Transport and the Government of the Russian Federation (a copy of the letter from the head of the partnership, Konstantin Zasov, dated March 13 is available to Interfax). SOZhT recalls that the issue was considered following a meeting with Deputy Minister of Transport Alexei Tsydenov, which took place in early February. It discussed the improvement of the car management model in the Russian Federation, and the partnership was asked to send the relevant proposals from operators to the Ministry of Transport.

The Council of Railway Operators was created by the largest owners of freight cars in Russia. The partnership represents their interests in resolving issues of legal, tariff and technological regulation in the railway industry, and participates in the formation of new transportation management technology in the context of reform in this area. Currently, the council includes 30 companies that control about 70% of the rolling stock fleet in Russia.